The Whispering Woods

Once upon a time long long ago,deep in the woods there lived a woodcutter and his wife. Although he didn't have children, he was content with life. He lived a simple life with his wife, Bertha. Bertha had the kind of face you wish never to set your eyes on. Although she was a cruel,sour and vindictive old lady, oh how he loved her. She had a crooked wart-covered nose, and bushy eyebrows. He didn't seem to see that side of her,that everyone else seemed to see. He would give her scabby feet massages and insist that she was to do no housework, and to rest.

Then one snowy winters night Bertha fell ill, very ill. The old man did all that he could do to save her but she died a terrible death. Although many people loathed her they gave their sympathy to the old man.

As time went on the old man's moods became dark and soon his life started to close in on him. No-one came to visit him anymore and how he longed for a soft, kind voice to talk to. Soon people began to forget about him altogether and all of this soon started to drive him insane. Some days he would just sit in his old rocking chair, staring out of the window muttering words to himself. Time eventually did its job and soon hundreds of pests and animals began living in his house, but of course he didn't notice or even care, he was too busy making conversation with his couch.

One day a young hunter named Phillip was tracking deer when all of a sudden he heard a rustling sound in an old abandoned house (well he thought it was abandoned). On closer inspection he spotted a brown ruffle haired creature. His hunting instinct said shoot it! Bang! A bullet ran through the old man's heart. As it did it was like the whole world froze for a moment and the young man suddenly realised what he had done. Now if you ever stroll through the woods and you stop to listen to the quiet whisper of the leaves you might just hear the soft, soothing sound of the Old Man and Bertha.


The End
By Donna

New Plymouth CrossCountry

Fitzroy School held the exciting New Plymouth cross-country event on the 6th of September 2011, at Peringa Park. There were heaps of different schools from all over the city that competed which was a great challenge for both supporters and runners. Around 40 runners from our school tested their skills on the course running from 1km-3km over flat park land and farm land. Each age group had up to 50 runners in it so the competition was stiff. Our team did reasonably well with several runners gaining top 10 placings. As an added bonus there were some delicious sausages and yummy cupcakes for sale to quell our hunger after we had run. Thanks for all the Parent support, it was a fun event.

By Bella.

Room 9's New Interactive Whiteboard

Room 9 got a new interactive whiteboard on Monday the 29th of August
which was very exciting for all of us. When the technicians had finished setting it up, Room 9 explored the board making a Mr Potato-Head which was a great laugh.
Room 9 also uses the interactive whiteboard now for work and fun and sometimes Room 8 comes in and shares the interactive whiteboard too. We are still learning how to use the board but I reckon we will be experts by the end of the year.

By Rebecca.

Red Cross People Savers Course

On the 2nd of August 2011,room 9 did a Red Cross People Savers Course.
We had an instructor called Brian, Brian told us about the the D.R.S.A.B.C which stands for Danger, Response, Send for help, Airway, Breathing and Circulation. If a person is unconscious the first thing you should do is the Head tilt Chin lift so when you tilt the head back the airway is open. Brian told us about the Recovery position, you do the Head tilt chin lift, put the arm closest to you out, put the arm that is futher away from you on their chest, roll them over by the hip and the shouder, bend the top leg, put the arm that's on the chest on top of the other arm and then do the head tilt chin lift. You must point their mouth to the ground so if they are sick and puke they won't choke on it.
Brian taught us how to put on a dressing (doctors word for bandages). He demonstrated what you would do if you got glass stuck in your arm and how to put a dressing on it. He also showed us how to make a sling for a broken arm, then he showed us how to bandage someone's head and we also wrapped someone's arm up in dressing.
We also learned what to do if you choke and we played a game about it. We had a 1.5 ltr drink bottle with a cork in it which we used as a gun. We put the bottle on our chest, made our hand into a fist and put it on the bottle. Then we put our other hand over it and squeezed hard. Whoever fired the cork the furtherest wins. The girls won.
We had a great time and we all hoped to do it again.

By Jack and Riana

My Dad's Marlin

This is my Dad's 97kg marlin. Dad and his friend Tom caught it. Tom was the skipper and Dad was the angler. The tackle was 28kg. The marlin was caught by trolling between the Tank Farm and Tapuae. They trolled for about half an hour before Dad got the strike. It took Dad about 45 minutes to play the marlin and to land it. The marlin was caught around 7.30am under fine weather and a calm sea. This is the second marlin my Dad has caught with Tom.
The first one weighed 129kg so it was a bit bigger than this one. Both marlin have been smoked and the steaks stored in the freezer. Since writing this Dad has caught a third marlin in the same spot that was also 97kg, exactly the same weight as the other one. In the future any marlin Dad catches will be tagged and released.


By Reuben